The Numberless

[Samantha Arrow]

Took the avian's hand in her paw, she hoped it would work. Then again it might backfire and people would think she was taking him to go show him a good time. Ah well, at least it should keep people from going after her.

But the more she thought about it, the more she was thinking of how much money she could earn doing something like this... Sasha hoped she was deeper than that though.

[Shade Leshyr]

Shade looked over his shoulder at Gometh, giving out an irritated huff, "Better here than out in the open don't you think? Besides, a lot of you seem to have a permanent stick up your collective asses and seem in desperate need of a 'friendly' environment. So how about you watch your mouth and learn some manners." Shade turned back to facing forward, wrapping his arm around Paxlo's waist, tail lashing fiercely in excitement, "Will we be meeting with our gracious host Paxxy? Or is he consumed in a brand new masterpiece?"

[Brome Teks]

"Eueeh, No thanks," He says to the woman. "I, er, have a pretty bad rib right now and really don't want to put it under any strain." He gets a bit away from her, afraid that she might be riddled with STDs.

[SliceOfDog]

At Cain's response, the dancer dropped her smile, and scanned the group again. Evidently seeing what she wanted, she smiled and walked over to Garren seductively. "How about you Soldier? You ever been in the military?"

[Dusty]

At Cain's response, the dancer dropped her smile, and scanned the group again. Evidently seeing what she wanted, she smiled and walked over to Garren seductively. "How about you Soldier? You ever been in the military?"

Garren grimaced as the woman rubbed up against him. "I'm not interested in your services," he muttered as he started to push past her. As he did however, he remembered his last conversation. He turned back to her. "And yes, I have been in the employment of our benefactors before," he muttered quietly so that only she could hear it.

[SliceOfDog]

The dancer pushed up close to Garren and rubbed slowly down his sides. "I think we both know you're in need of my services honey. Men like you need girls like us" She brushed his hand and turned, saying as she walked away "If you want another taste, you know where to find me"

Paxlo had reached the top of the stairs and took an immediate left, walking down a short and only slightly less lavish corridor. There were much fewer people around, all with an air of confidence matched equally by Paxlo's. As he passed they nodded, smiled or patted his shoulder in greeting, but very few even appeared to acknowledge the train of followers he had acquired. He reached the end of the corridor and more ornate doors, this time closed and emblazoned with the letters SKM. To his surprise, he was stopped by one of the large guards wearing pink cherub masks.
"Is there a problem?" Paxlo asked with poorly hidden indignation
"Not with you sir," the guard replied, with an uneducated but authoritative drawl "But boss didn't clear all of 'em. He wants to see your friend, the two soldiers and the tiger, 'Mako'. Rest'll have to stay outside, Boss don't wanna see 'em"

[Daryn]

Ryan and Sasha follow Paxlo along down the corridor until they reach the set of doors. He listens intently to the conversation between Paxlo and the guards, then can't help but feel a little disheartened that he isn't going to be allowed in to see Sir Maximus. He sighs to himself, but he guesses he really shouldn't be all that surprised, Maximus is quite a busy badger after all.

[Samantha Arrow]

Sasha frowned, not because she wasn't going to get to see this Maximus person - but because she'd have to stay with the crowd from the 'fun' building. She held onto Ryan's arm a little tighter, to show the public she wasn't looking right now.

[Dusty]

Garren felt a pang of pity for the woman as she sauntered passed him, after all she was forced to play the role. In a rather uncharacteristic move he tucked his hands in his pockets before pulling them out again. His curiosity was aroused when the heard the guard talking. Well Max, it seems your not without resources he thought to himself as he stepped towards the front of the group.

[Buzzwolf]

Mako ducked from the long limo with a curious look, almost as though he were expecting something a little more...extravagant, maybe? he couldn't pin the feeling down, but whatever feeling he'd had about it getting out of the limo, passed with teh entrance of the double doors, the inside was something else entirely. and he felt entirely out of place in it among all the suited patrons. he silently followed the others, doing his best to keep out of the other patrons way, as much as an individual of his stature could anyway. he was feeling very, very much out of his element at this point. he slipped one of the brightly colored drinks from one of the waitresses trays, turning to issue a silent 'thank you' before dodging around some patrons who had gathered inbetween him and the rest of the group. past them, it seemed to thin out. he took a sip of the colored drink, finding it had a distinctively fruity, almost purely cherry, flavor to it.
He'd have to remember to get the name of it if they made it out of here.
he came up on the rest of the group as Paxlo was talking to body guards, and one of them mentioned his name, as though to make sure no one else could be mistaken for him. what'd he done that had garnered this big dog's attention? someone obviously knew him, but...hell, he couldn't even think of any people he -might've- known that had even similar initials to the guy "who're we seeing again?" he asked out loud before taking another sip of the cherry flavored drink, hoping that in doing so he'd jog his memory as to who it was he was about to deal with, or, that someone else might be able to let him in on it.

[Arratra]

Gometh jumped out of the limo, hardly bothering to glance around. Already he knew this place was a soldier's nightmare; he'd been here twice before in raids. The first had almost resulted in a gunfight, averted at the last minute by someone torching their truck. One firefight had transformed into another as they struggled to save the expensive truck.
The second time around had been a complete and utter waste of time; by that point, the place had been completely empty.
Still, the dragon was able to analyse the tactical situation instantly, and knew right away that it was every soldier's worst nightmare; a wide open room, with minimal cover dominated the building, although there were smaller rooms where more private "fun" could take place.
Make that two tactical nightmares for anyone trying to attack; room-to-room fighting was notorious for being steeply in the favour of the defenders.

When he was mentioned, albeit by his profession, he turned.
"Yeah, what does your boss want with me?" he asked, bluntly. He wasn't really one for subtlety in such situations.

[Nelle Kozera]

Ivona looked at the place that they had been brought to and frowned. It wasn't her idea of a place to take cover but she wouldn't agree for now her eyes where on Nowen and not much else for the moment, she was lost in her own thoughts while they walked through the building. It wasn't until she found out that she was not going to be able to enter the room at the end of the hall that she decided to turn around and head back to the main area of the club look for a nice spot to sit where she could observe the major of the club from a high angle from which she could watch the club.

It didn't take her long to find such a spot, though it was more or less the balcony of the area, that or a booth. It was then that she spotted the pole behind her. "Great..."

[Shade Leshyr]

Shade let out an excited squeal, quickly cupping a hand over his mouth and blushing beneath his fur. He followed it quickly with a nervous giggle, wrapping his arm snugly around Paxlo's waist, "Sorry, got a little excited there." He let out another giggle and rested his head on Paxlo's shoulder, tail swaying excitedly as he waited for the doors to opened to admit them in.

[SliceOfDog]

((Ah, sorry. I was waiting for someone in particular to post, and they already had done ><
Anyhow, this will be my last post before I go on holiday, sorry I've been slack as of late. If you all stick around until I get back I promise things will get interesting! Big things are afoot, and remember; Being polite and civil has it's place, but some characters only understand force of will. There is a time for being more forceful and getting your way. Use that wisely ))

Nowen turned stone faced to Mako, saying "You're about to see corruption incarnate. Sir Maximus, part time Playwright, full time bastard. You either pissed him off or he wants to make you one of his minions, but either way he knows more about you than you can possibly guess"

Not hearing Nowen's comments, Paxlo turned to Gometh, frowning, and said "I have no idea. I don't even know how he knows you're here. I thought he was going to let us all in, especially with me giving the all clear. I'll have a word with him, and see if the rest of the group can come too" At Shade's comment, Paxlo did not reply, but his expression softened and he put an arm around him, squeezing gently. He nodded to the guard, who opened the door, and checked Shade, Gometh, Garren and Mako through, before closing it behind them.

The room the five of them entered was lavish indeed, but not much more so than the rest of the building. Tapestries of naked dancers, warriors and deities covered the walls, and bizarre potted plants took residence in the two corners by the door. The corners opposite were filled by marble statues, one of a male deer holding a three-pronged spear, and the other a female otter brandishing a pike. Both were naked, and on the otter's pike hung a large hat and brown furred coat. Between them was a large desk adorned with personal fancies; small ticking silver trinkets, painted shells and miniature figurines, books and a pot of quills and brushes, and various other items. Before the desk was an enormous rug with many detailed pictures, perhaps as many as a hundred, of what seemed to be many different plays and operas. The same costumes and sets could be seen repeatedly. Behind the desk was a very large chair, the padded back of which almost reached the ceiling before twisting off in a decorative fashion. In this chair sat a badger. He was large around the waist, but quite short, and wearing a frilled pink shirt. He smiled widely and raised his arms in a welcoming fashion.

"My friends!" he boomed joyously "Welcome to where you belong!"

[Daryn]

Ryan moves up towards the guarded door. He looks at the guard, then grins, "How about letting me in?" he begins smoothly, "If you do, I'll show you how you can become completely invisible to traffic cameras." he pauses a moment to let his words sink in, "I am sure that knowledge could be useful..."

[Arratra]

Gometh remained silent at first. The moment that he had entered the room, he had fixed the badger as his point of focus; he wasn't going to let the pictures grab his attention, however much his instincts drew him in that direction.
"Where I belong is nowhere in this city," he said eventually, shaking his head, "I am certainly glad for your hospitality, but I must leave the city. The Numberless are my only refuge now, I'm afraid." A heavy sigh accompanied his words.
A moment's thought, then he gave half a derisive laugh, "Although how I'm going to find them in the wasteland is a good question."

[Shade Leshyr]

Shade giggled excitedly and did a quick hop-step forward before bowing dramatically, "Sir Maximus, it is such an honor to meet you in person," his tail lashed excitedly, but he kept it in check, not allowing it to hit anything, "I've seen all of your plays as time allows. And I must say, I love that shirt." Shade continued to stand there, trying to find some other way to compliment Maximus, but was currently struck silent by the sheer fan-girlish type happiness running through his blood.

Eventually he stepped back next to Paxlo, allowing the others to get their introductions in, but Shade couldn't help it if his giddiness caused him to get a little... "excited."

[Brome Teks]

Cain looks around the room he was left behind in. "Interesting..." he says to himself upon hearing some of the words exchanged. He finds a spot to sit and does so, leaning back and massaging his chest.

[SliceOfDog]

The guard Ryan had addressed stared for a moment, then he laughed. "Hur hur. Don't be stupid, everyone knows that stealth suits ain't working properly yet"
For this he received a sharp punch in the arm by the second guard, who hissed "Boss said never mention tha-" he paused, looked at Ryan and regained his composure. "Besides," he said, speaking to his companion but facing Ryan "he didn't mean that. You were talkin' about electronics and... technology stuff. Right?"

Sir Maximus smiled wondrously at Gometh's comments, before tittering slightly. After a moment's pause, this became a great booming laugh. His large stomach shook with a genuine hysterics. He waved casually at Shade, managing a "Thank you dear boy, thank you" between laughs, and then wiped tears from his eyes as his laugher became only chuckles. "The Numberless... my only refuge... oh deary me, oh my word" he said under his breath. With seemingly great effort, he calmed himself. He smiled once again at the group, and without looking at him waved Paxlo away.
"Get some chairs for our guests my boy, don't be rude". Paxlo nodded, moving away to a particular tapestry and pulling it up to reveal a side door. Into this he disappeared, and Sir Maximus stood and addressed Gometh directly, but in such a way that he seemed to be including the others, as if this were only a conversation between characters on his stage, and Mako, Garren and Shade were audience members.
"Now, now, now, my little Gometh. Ah, may I call you Gometh?" He continued, not waiting for an answer "Dear Gometh, you have been through quite an ordeal, I know. You have spent the entire day fleeing for your lives from unknown forces and it is understandable that you might have become..." he waved his hand around in search for the right word, and appeared to find it "... confused. But as your superior and, more importantly, as your friend, I see it not only as a mandatory service to you but the the city I love," (This was accompanied by a flourish) "to set you straight. For you see, these 'Numberless' you speak of are rogues, cads and scoundrels, the lot. They are not men of intelligence. They are not men of reason. They are not men who understand what it is like to live in the real world!" He slammed his fist down in emphasis, and a diamond figurine of a ballet-dancer rattled on the table "As a military man I am sure you have seen these attacks, the damage they have caused. You perhaps think, now that you are in your confused state of mind, that they would be a good force to protect you. But I tell you this, they are not as organised as they seem! How have they survived this long, you ask? Sheer dumb luck! They turn away offers of compromise, offers of business! Worst of all, they turn down offers of power"
Paxlo re-entered, carrying four chairs. He laid them out, not behind each person but in front of them, facing Sir Maximus' desk
"I ask you, my friends" Sir Maximus continued, addressing them all and smiling kindly, he motioned to the door "Which of you would wish to be that kind of man," he then motioned to the chairs "and which of you are men I can really be friends with?"

[Nelle Kozera]

Ivona would move from her spot over looking the rest of the strip club to head back to the group for a moment. "Nowen..." She said walking up next to him, "You and me need to have a private conversation you mind following me to someplace...a little less crowed." She would stand next to him till he moved, it was apperent that she wasn't going to leave until he and her had their conversation.

[Shade Leshyr]

Shade was stunned by the weight of the question. It wasn't a mere offer of friendship, it was of a deeper meaning. The fury of the spoken word, the rigid body language, the dramatic flourish, it was not a simple proposal, it was... Shade gasped. The dots were connecting as he looked at the others who had been permitted before Maximus. Two with military training and one who could do some damage... the stage was set, the actors in place. Only a declaration remained, one which Shade was loathe to speak, but must, "You plan to bring war to Stalwart."

He swayed a little in disbelief, but it all made sense now, "The immunity from the law, the planned escape, now this," he exploded, pointing at Maximus, "you're in league with a One! Building an army for a civil war," Shade whirled, glaring at Paxlo with tears in his eyes, "I trusted you and all this time you've been working for one of THEM!? Answer me Paxlo!"

[Daryn]

Ryan chuckled at the two guards reactions. "Stealth suits, eh?" he grins, "Not working properly... heh, well, I suppose you wouldn't without a good engineer.." he then pauses to ponder, "Well anyway, what I was talking about was technical, and a little logistical, but nevermind, I probably shouldn't have mentioned it anyway."

[SliceOfDog]

A mink woman, barely clothed and walking with a dancer's swagger, approached Maximus' door carrying a tray of drinks in one hand. The first guard stood her aside wordlessly and removed a small scanner, checking the drinks individually for poison. As this was happening, the second guard grabbed Ryan's shoulder. "Nah, nah, go on. He doesn't appreciate technology," a nod to the first guard, still occupied "but I heard Boss say we need some new engineers. Those bloody Uni flops were all part of... whassitcalled... Tee-En-You or sommin. Opposed the work on 'moral grounds'. Pfft"
A short pause in which he thought hard, brow visibly wrinkling under the small mask he wore. Then he asked Ryan, with the air of getting a completely unbiased opinion; "You think he'd give me a raise if I found a good engineer?"

Nowen glanced over at Ivona, then nodded back to the door where Ryan was still attempting to negotiate his way past. "Not now. I want to see if he gets in. For a powerful guy he has 1 braincell's worth of doorguards. Must be so confident in his own power, thinks he's untouchable. Cocky asshole"

Sir Maximus' smile fell away at Shade's outburst, but not to anger or shock. His new expression was one of calm curiosity, as he cocked his head slightly to observe what happened. In contrast, Paxlo was horrified. He raised his hands up defensively and his eyes were wide in confusion. "Shade please," he said desperately, shaking his head "that's not it at all! We wouldn't... I mean... just think for a moment! I love Stalwart, so does Maxy. I tried to get you to stay here! Would I be doing that if we were planning on... on starting a war?"
"The war," Sir Maximus interrupted, sternly but not angrily, and with a vague hint of compassion, such as a father leading a lost son "is already here. The pieces are in place, the first dominoes have fallen. I speak with complete honesty when I tell you this was not of our doing. My good friend Mr Joseph Obels has done more good to this city in recent times than anyone else alive, and he would not wish to see that undone, nor would I and nor would any patriot. But there are forces at work here that you can't even comprehend. Your accusation of a civil war was correct, but you placed myself and my allies on the wrong side. We are not the rebels but the defenders!" Here, he turned to Garren and Gometh, a strange glint in his eye "But you two would know more about that than anyone, wouldn't you? I wonder how deep you are in Rudderman's plot, or if you put Stalwart first and refused"

[Nelle Kozera]

"Look its going take five maybe ten minutes of your time and then you can watch whether or not he can get, I don't him getting in, in any less than half an hour so you'll back in time." The adjusted her sunglasses just a bit, she was still wearing them even though she was inside the building. She would whisper something else to him...

[Samantha Arrow]

Sasha watched Daryn try to lure the VIP guards with the promise of some illegal activity. She was surprised their wasn't bird brains splattered all over the place right now! That was far too bold and upfront.

The vixen considered other options, but realized even if she went through with the idea they'd still be stopped at the second step. Would he be able to sneak in if she lured the guards away? It depended on what was on the other side of the door, and if there was even more security.

She had a third idea, but it would put herself a quite a lot of risk. She'd need a second opinion before she tried it.

Sasha stood up and swaggered over to Ryan, "Hey there big boy, you need some medical attention?" She said seductivly, it was just so the guards wouldn't be too suspicious about it. She would manage to locate herself around him so she could whisper to him without the guards noticing. "Sorry about my behavior, I need to look convincing. You're being way too blunt with them: asking VIP guards if they're interested in something illegal?... Anyway, I was thinking I might be able to convince them that someone in the room they're guarding called up for some entertainment and I'm the girl. The only thing is that will really put me at a lot of risk, but I think it has a higher chance of working. I want to know if you think it's worth it." She squeezed his thigh to further convince the guards, but she was blushing pretty deeply now.

[Daryn]

Ryan pondered what the guard was asking for a moment, taking the opportunity to turn to Sasha to whisper his reply, "Nothing I said was illegal, nor is any of the information I plan on revealing." he said with a slight smile, "Besides, it looks like he's seriously considering my proposal at the moment."

When the guard had turned back to him to ask this question he knew it for what it was. Poker players like to call it a Tell. An action or tick that reveals a lot more about one's state of mind than they are consciously aware they are revealing. He momentarily turned back to the guard, "You know that I couldn't speak for Sir Maximus. But ..." he paused a moment, "Hypothetically speaking, he might be might be more inclined to offer a raise if you happened to introduce him to someone with the kinds of skills that he's in need of." he said this cooly and analytically, as someone parsing variables and statistics might.

Next to working on hardware and software systems, Social Engineering was something that Ryan really enjoyed. It was always amazing to him what one could accomplish with just the right wording. It was a Social Hack not too dissimilar to hacking a computer system.

He then turned back to Sasha and gave her a smile, out loud he said, "I wonder who the lucky guy is."

[Arratra]

Gometh remained silent, his arms crossed and his eyes closed, for a moment.
"I've fought the Numberless," he said, "And I know that they're more organised than simple 'rabble' as you put it."
He allowed Maximus to continue, then shrugged.
"Rudderman never approached me," he replied, "But then, I was never that high up on the totem pole, really."
A moment's silence.
"That explosion a week ago or so," he said, thinking aloud, "Rumour has it in the military that it was Rudderman's doing."

[SliceOfDog]

Nowen turned and glared at Ivona, before hissing and moving over to Cain. "I'm going with the psycho for a moment," he muttered begrudgingly "When I get back I'd like to talk to you. I think we're on the same page about..." he glanced over to Ivona, and then to the couple almost dancing in front of the guards "Well... I think we're on the same page. I'll be back"
With that he turned back to Ivona and flicked a hand "Lead the way, and make it quick"

The guard nodded to Ryan, not seeming to even notice Sasha, or at least consider her anything out of the ordinary. "Yeah..." he breathed "Yeah, Boss can see you later. Come back about... what time is it now?" he asked his colleague, who shrugged as he let the waitress Mink through into Maximus' office. "Come back in an hour" the guard settled on. He grinned stupidly.

For a moment Sir Maximus looked almost surprised.
"Rumour you say? Rumour..." for a moment he seemed to retreat within his own thoughts, and it was then that the Mink waitress entered the room. Sensing the tension, she stared at the floor as the approached Sir Maximus' table, and laid down the tray of drinks with a curtsey, retreating back outside quickly. Silently, and bashfully, Paxlo handed the drinks out, leaving one on the table for Maximus, who, once the woman had closed the doors once again behind her, breathed "Rumour indeed..."
He then looked up at Gometh and smiled grimly. "I cannot say whether or not Rudderman was behind that awful incident, but I can tell you to consider the aftermath; Increased security, public fear, the desire for vengeance. All of these lead to Rudderman's security force increasing in size and power. Why is it, I find myself wondering, that one man, one human, is allowed almost unlimited control over such a powerful and violent force? The Numberless represent a threat, yes, but one to combat with words and ideas. Feed the people knowledge and they would stay in this great city. This great but... oh so tainted city"

[Brome Teks]

"Right," he nods, and leans back, eyeing the dancer and remaining otherwise silent.

[Daryn]

Ryan nods and smiles. He puts an arm around Sasha and makes to leave, but stops, "Fair enough." he says smoothly, "Here's a freebie for you. Drive no faster than 31km/h within the city. Driving at the limit of 35km/h will make the camera system follow you. But doing 31 will make you a non-priority, so your record is never stored." and with that, he walks off with the Vixen.